SAN ANTONIO - One woman is spreading love and encouragement in the community through letters.

“One day I sat down, and I started writing letters to myself. They were words of encouragement, words of love, and just words of ‘everything’s going to be ok,'" Nicole Ahr, The Love Letter Library founder, said.

“I was a teacher for six years, and once I reached probably five and a half years of teaching, I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher anymore. That can be kind of a scary thing to realize that you’ve worked so long to become something, and then your heart has different plans," Ahr said.

Writing letters became a therapeutic experience.

Ahr said she was writing a letter at Starbucks one day, and made a spur-of-the moment decision that she would leave it behind.

“I just knew that whatever I left behind was going to be found by someone who needed to hear the words. I started leaving all of my letters behind. I didn’t have a plan. I just knew that it felt really good to give something to the world without expecting anything in return," Ahr said.